380 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



his mother the ykiu of the diver to enable her to swim, himself put on 

 the skill of the craue. The salt water rose until it began to come in the 

 door, when the chief put on his tall dance hat which made him amphib- 

 ious, and Yetl flew out through the smoke-hole. As he flew, he began 

 to tire, and was compelled to come back from time to time to rest on the 

 chief's dance hat, which was the only thing visible, till finally he gained 

 strength enough to fly to the sky, which he pierced with his beak and 

 hung to until the tide reached to his wings, when it began to subside. 

 Finally he let go of his hold and, flying for some days, he lit on a bunch 

 of kelp to rest. At this point the story varies so much in different 

 localities that it is difficult to make it at all general. According to the 

 Kaigani Yetl descended into the sea and rescued his mother from the 

 lord of the tides ; according to the Tlingit a sea-otter carried him ashore 

 from the kelp; according to the Stikine Indians he lit originally on the 

 Queen Charlotte Islands, and picking up pieces of the wood of the 

 Douglas pine in his bill he flew all over the other islands, and where- 

 ever he let fall a piece of this wood, the Douglas pine is now found. 

 Fresh water he stole from the lord of the tides by strategy ; also the 

 new moon. In the carved column shown in Fig. 179, Plate xxxv, one 

 of the figures represents Yetl with the new moon in his bill and the dish 

 of fresh water in his claws, in illustration of this part of the legend. 

 He also stole the sun and the stars from the boxes in which they were 

 imprisoned by the lord of the tides.* When the sun shone forth for 

 the first time all the people were frightened and ran in all directions ; 

 some of them into the mountains, some into the woods, and some into 

 the water, and all of these were transformed into animals according to 

 their hiding place. Fire he obtained from an island in the sea. He 

 reached there by the help of his magic bird skin, and seizing a burning 

 brand in his beak he started back, but the journey was so long that 

 nearly all the wood burned up, and even the point of his bill was 

 scorched black and he had to let it drop. The sparks flew over the 

 ground in all directions. From this time both the wood and stone con- 

 tain fire, which can be obtained from the one by striking it and from 

 the other by rubbing. Endless are the details of the adventures of 

 Yetl, not to mention the other traditions and myths which no one In- 

 dian cau ever learn. Many of them are remembered simply as bearing 

 on or relating to the totem of the individual. In general their belief 

 is in indwelling spirits. The sea, the woods, and the air are peopled 

 with them. All the phenomena of the universe are attributed to their 

 action and most of the rites of these Indians of a religious nature are in 

 the direction of propitiating them. It is not the purpose here to treat 

 of the traditions, myths, and beliefs of the Indians. The subject is 

 worthy of special study and will undoubtedly receive the attention it 

 merits. 



* This idea ofditferent valuables being stored in boxes naturally arises from their 

 own time-honored custom of storing things in this way. 



